College Football Week 1 Best Bets - Football Lines
Without question, Week 1 is a sacred time for college football fans. The eternal nine-month offseason ends, and the start of the best regular season of any sport kicks off, only to end in a flash three months later. For 2025, Week 1 offers some attractive matchups; however, this is offset by the excessive number of games between FCS and FBS programs. Amazingly, the television networks, which pay billions of dollars to college football, allow for so many mismatches. Yet they do. But for college football fans desperate for the return of their favorite sport, they will take all that bad for some of the very good.
College Football Betting Lines
The best game of the weekend is at the famed Horseshoe between the Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes, which is a rematch of last season’s CFP semifinal game that was won by the Bucks 28-14, en route to their national championship.
Arch Manning will be under center as the new starting quarterback of the Longhorns, who will be one of the top contenders in the SEC. Manning could be the biggest draw in the sport, and a game at Ohio State will likely draw massive ratings and betting action. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day must replace his starting quarterback and both coordinators from his national championship team.
The last game of the long Labor Day weekend will mark the debut of Bill Belichick as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC will host the TCU Horned Frogs on Monday night in a game that is expected to draw massive interest. Belichick is drawing plenty of attention for his exploits on and off the field and has always been a polarizing figure that attracts eyeballs and betting activity. Can the Hoodie succeed at a basketball school? Week 1 will give us the first tell.
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College Football Week 1 Schedule
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Boise State Broncos at USF Bulls, 5:30 pm, ESPN
Lafayette Leopards at Bowling Green Falcons, 6 pm, ESPN+
Ohio Bobcats at Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 6 pm, BTN
Delaware State Hornets at Delaware Blue Hens, 7 pm, ESPN+
Jacksonville State Gamecocks at UCF Knights, 7 pm, ESPN+
East Carolina Pirates at NC State Wolfpack, 7 pm, ACCN
Wyoming Cowboys at Akron Zips, 7 pm, ESPN+
Saint Francis U Red Flash at ULM Warhawks, 7 pm, ESPN+
Elon Phoenix at Duke Blue Devils, 7:30 pm, ESPN+
Central Arkansas Bears at Missouri Tigers, 7:30 pm, SECN
UT Martin Skyhawks at Oklahoma State Cowboys, 7:30 pm, ESPN+
Buffalo Bulls at Minnesota Golden Gophers, 8 pm, FS1
Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks at Houston Cougars, 8 pm, ESPN+
Alabama State Hornets at UAB Blazers, 8:30 pm, ESPN+
Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Cincinnati Bearcats, 9 pm, ESPN (Kansas City, MO)
Miami-Oh Redhawks at Wisconsin Badgers, 9 pm, BTN
Stony Brook Seawolves at San Diego State Aztecs, TBD
Friday, August 29, 2025
Tarleton State Texans at Army Black Knights, 6 pm, CBSSN
Kennesaw State Owls at Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 7 pm, ACCN
Appalachian State Mountaineers vs. Charlotte 49ers (Charlotte, NC), 7 pm, ESPNU
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats at FIU Owls, 7 pm, ESPN+
Western Michigan Broncos at Michigan State Spartans, 7 pm, FS1
Wagner Seahawks at Kansas Jayhawks, 7:30 pm, ESPN+
Western Illinois Leathernecks at Illinois Fighting Illini, 7:30 pm, Peacock
Auburn Tigers at Baylor Bears, 8 pm, FOX
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Colorado Buffaloes, 8 pm, ESPN
UNLV Rebels at Sam Houston Bearkats, 9:30 pm, CBSSN
Central Michigan Chippewas at San Jose State Spartans, 10:30 pm, FS1
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Syracuse Orange at Tennessee Volunteers (Atlanta, GA), noon, ABC
Mississippi State Bulldogs at Southern Miss Eagles, noon, ESPN
VMI Keydets at Navy Midshipmen, noon, CBSSN
Texas Longhorns at Ohio State Buckeyes, noon, FOX
Duquesne Dukes at Pitt Panthers, noon, ACCN
Northwestern Wildcats at Tulane Green Wave, noon, ESPNU
Ball State Cardinals at Purdue Boilermakers, noon, BTN
Merrimack Warriors at Kent State Golden Flashes, noon, ESPN+
Florida Atlantic Owls at Maryland Terrapins, noon, BTN
Toledo Rockets at Kentucky Wildcats, 12:45 pm, SECN
Fordham Rams at Boston College Eagles, 2 pm, ESPN+
Robert Morris Colonials at West Virginia Mountaineers, 2 pm, ESPN+
CCSU Blue Devils at UConn Huskies, 2 pm, TBD
Old Dominion Monarchs at Indiana Hoosiers, 2:30 pm, FS1
Eastern Kentucky Hilltoppers at Louisville Cardinals, 3 pm, ACCN
Bucknell Bison at Air Force Falcons, 3:30 pm, CBSSN
Marshall Thundering Herd at Georgia Bulldogs, 3:30 pm, ESPN
Nevada Wolf Pack at Penn State Nittany Lions, 3:30 pm, ESPN
Holy Cross Crusaders at NIU Huskies, 3:30 pm, ESPN+
South Dakota Coyotes at Iowa State Cyclones, 3:30 pm, FOX
Temple Owls at UMass Minutemen, 3:30 pm, ESPN+
Alabama Crimson Tide at Florida State Seminoles, 3:30 pm, ABC
Maine Black Bears at Liberty Flames, 4 pm, ESPN+
Montana State Bobcats at Oregon Ducks, 4 pm, BTN
Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Arkansas Razorbacks, 4:15 pm, SECN
Chattanooga Mocs at Memphis Tigers, 4:30 pm, ESPN+
Illinois State Redbirds at Oklahoma Sooners, 6 pm, ESPN+
UAlbany Great Danes at Iowa Hawkeyes, 6 pm, FS1
Weber State Wildcats at James Madison Dukes, 6 pm, ESPN+
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Virginia Cavaliers, 6 pm, ACCN
Charleston Southern Buccaneers at Vanderbilt Commodores, 7 pm, ESPN+
UTSA Roadrunners at Texas A&M Aggies, 7 pm, ESPN
Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Arkansas State Red Wolves, 7 pm, ESPN+
North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Kansas State Wildcats, 7 pm, ESPN+
Nicholls Colonels at Troy Trojans, 7 pm, ESPN+
Morgan State Bears at South Alabama Jaguars, 7 pm, ESPN+
LIU Sharks at Florida Gators, 7 pm, ESPN+
Austin Peay Governors at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, 7 pm, ESPN+
North Alabama Lions at WKU Hilltoppers, 7 pm, ESPN+
Missouri State Bears at USC Trojans, 7:30 pm, BTN
UTEP Miners at Utah State Aggies, 7:30 pm, CBSSN
UAPB Golden Lions at Texas Tech Red Raiders, 7:30 pm, ESPN+
LSU Tigers at Clemson Tigers, 7:30 pm, ABC
New Mexico Lobos at Michigan Wolverines, 7:30 pm, NBC
Southeastern Louisiana Lions at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, 7:30 pm, ESPN+
Georgia State Panthers at Ole Miss Rebels, 7:45 pm, SECN
Portland State Pirates at BYU Cougars, 8 pm, ESPN+
Lamar Cardinals at North Texas Mean Green, 8 pm, ESPN+
Abilene Christian Wildcats at Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 8 pm, ESPN+
Eastern Michigan Eagles at Texas State Bobcats, 8 pm, ESPN+
Rice Owls at Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, 8 pm, ESPN+
East Texas A&M Lions at SMU Mustangs, 9 pm, ACCN
Bryant Bulldogs at New Mexico State Aggies, 9 pm, ESPN+
Georgia Southern Eagles at Fresno State Bulldogs, 9:30 pm, FS1
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Arizona State Sun Devils, 10 pm, ESPN+
Idaho Vandals at Washington State Cougars, 10 pm, The CW
Hawaii Warriors at Arizona Wildcats, 10:30 pm, TNT
California Golden Bears at Oregon State Beavers, 10:30 pm, ESPN
Colorado State Rams at Washington Huskies, 11 pm, BTN
Utah Utes at UCLA Bruins, 11 pm, FOX
Sunday, August 31, 2025
Virginia Tech Hokies at South Carolina Gamecocks, 3 pm, ESPN (Atlanta, GA)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Miami-FL, 7:30 pm, ABC
Monday, September 1, 2025
TCU Horned Frogs at North Carolina Tar Heels, 8 pm, ESPN
2025-2026 College Football Schedule
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